Resettable counter



Aug. 14, 1945.

S. GRAYDON, JR., ETAL RESETTABLE COUNTER Filed Oct. 30, 1942 fievenzors 52272272 070: dare/2'- Patented Aug. 14, 1945 RESETTABLE COUNTER Sterling Graydon, Jr., Hartford, and Harvey N. Bliss, Windsor, Conn., asslgnors to Veeder- Root Incorporated, Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application October 30, 1942, Serial No. 463,876

This invention relates to a counter wheel unit of the sort disclosed in the United States Patent to Harvey N. Bliss, Patent No. 2,342,325, granted February 22, 1944, and wherein is disclosed a nu-L meral wheel formed of a moldable plastic, a gear member also formed of a moldable plastic, and

a pawl and ratchet connection therebetween, whereby, during a registering operation, the gear member and numeral wheel may be driven. as a unit, and during a resetting operation, the numeral wheel may be reset to a starting position gthout transmitting rotation to the gear mem- The aim of the invention is to provide certain improvements in the construction disclosed in said patent.

More particularly, an aim of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement for preventing overthrow or overrun of the numeral wheel when the counting operation is suddenly stopped, and also to prevent fraudulent manipulation of the counter in such manner as to surreptitiously advance the wheel, the means for accomplishing these purposes being characterized by its simplicity in construction, economy in manufacture, and ease of assembly.

A further aim is to provide an improved, simple, and economical arrangement for attachin the retaining plate to the gear member of the counter wheel unit so as to prevent displacement of the ratchet pawls carried thereby.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown on; embodiment which the resent invention may ta e:

Figure l is a side elevation end of the unit;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking at the other end of the unit;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the unit taken substantially on line 33 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, a portion of the retaining plate being broken away; and

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of the gear member. th retaining plate, and the counter wheel in perspective.

Referring to the drawing in detail, A designates looking at the gear 3 Claims. (01. sea-131) a numeral wheel which is preferably formed of plastic as by a molding operation. This wheel has a central hub I0 from which extends a disklike web H provided with a peripheral of cylindrical flange I2. Upon this flange, as is usual, are consecutively arranged numerals running from "0 to 9. On the internal surface of the with notches ll therebetween. Each tooth is generally V-shaped in cross section, and the teeth are equal in number to the numerals which appear on the external surface of the flange. Preferabls formed integrally with the numeral wheel is the usual locking disk 20 which is in the form of an annular shoulder on the side of the web i I opposite that from which the peripheral flange l2 extends. Also formed integrally with the wheel A is the usual mutilated or two-toothed driving gear 2|. It will be observed from Fig. 3 that the locking disk has a notch 22 in registry with the space between the two teeth of this driving gear. It is, of course, understood that the two-toothed gear 2| is adapted to cooperate with the usual transfer pinion (not shown to advance the wheel of higher order, and the locking disk cooperates with that pinion in order to prevent it and the unit of next higher order from rotating except during a transfer operation. The transfer mechanism may be similar to that described in the patent to Spaunburg No. 2,040,031

unit is driven during registration. The hub l0 of the wheel is journaled on this shaft, and the shaft has a longitudinal groove 21 which picks up the nose portion of the reset pawl to turn the wheel back to zero during a resetting operation. The web Ii has on its inner face an elongated recess 28, and the hub 10 has a slot 29 leading from the central portion of this recess to the bore of the hub. The pawl has a rounded outer end journaled in one end of the recess, and the nose of the pawl is urged into the slot 29 by a U-shaped spring 30, the closed end of which fits in the other end of the recess. One arm of the spring bears against the outer end of the edge of the recess, and the other arm of the spring bears against the outer edge of the reset pawl. To

,lighten the wheel and thereby reduce its inertia,

this rib being in the same plane as that portion of the web in which the recess 28 of the pawl is provided.

The gear member is designated generally by the letter B. and this member is also preferably rormed or a plastic. It comprises a gear I! having twenty teeth, and these teeth, as explained in said Spaunburg Patent No. 2,040,031, are adapted to mesh with all of the teeth of the transfer pinion. The member B has a central opening 3! of such size as to rotatably receive the hub l0. integrally formed with the gear I! is a disk portion a which is of lesser diameter than the gear and extends into the flange I! of the numeral wheel. This disk portion has two open grooves or guideways 31 in which are mounted for reciprocation ratchet pawls ll adapted to cooperate with the ratchet teeth I! of the numeral wheel in such manner that when the gear member is driven in a counting direction, the wheel will rotate therewith and, upon a resettingoperation, the wheel may be rotated relative to the now stationary gear member in the same direction as that in which it was turned during registration. These grooves are disposed on chords spaced from and located to opposite sides of the central opening ll in the gear. The two grooves lead from the periphery of the disk at diametrically opposite points thereof. Within each groove is 9. lug 40 spaced between the ends thereof. The pawls 3B are generally rectangular in cross section to conform to the rectangular cross section of the grooves in which they slide. The outer ends of the ratchet pawls are suitably curved so that they will have driving relation with the ratchet teeth i3 during a registering operation and will ratchet over those teeth during a resetting operation. The pawls are normally urged into engagement with the ratchet teeth by coiled springs 41 located in the grooves behind the pawls. In order to prevent the springs from ejecting the pawls from the grooves during the operation of assembling the unit, each pawl has a recess 42 which receives and cooperates with the lug 40.

The letter C designates a retaining plate which is positioned between the numeral wheel A and the gear member B and serves several functions including those of preventing interference between the several pawls, the retention of the ratchet pawls 38 in their grooves prior to assembling the numeral wheel on the gear member, and, in cooperation with the reset pawl, the prevention of overthrow or fraudulent rotation of the wheel relative to the gear member. The plate is in the form of a thin metal round disk fitting within the numeral wheel and having a central hole 44 for the reception of the hub ill. The disk is located between the opposing inner faces of the disk 36 and the web I i, and serves to prevent the pawls from moving laterally from their respective guldeways or recesses. Thus, interference between the ratchet pawls carried by the gear member and the parts on the inside surface of the web of the wheel is guarded against. In accordance with the present invention, the retainer plate is attached to the gear member so as to rotate therewith in order that the plate may hold the ratchet pawls in their grooves prior to assembling the gear member and wheel member and also to permit the plate to act as one element of the nonoverthrow means. In the present instance, the plate has two diametrically opposite marginal,

laterally turned and rectangularly shaped ears or lugs 45 and. in the face of the disk 36 are two holes 48 spaced apart in accordance with the lugs ll and adapted to snugly receive the same. When the plate is assembled on the gear member, the side edges of the lugs 48 frictionally and snugly engage the peripheries of the holes 4| so that the plate is frictionally held in place and thus the sub-assembly, comprising the gear member, the ratchet pawls, and the plate, may be handled without danger of the pawls and the springs behind the pawls becoming displaced.

With counter units of the ratchet type, the wheels have a t ndency to overthrow, that is,

' to continue to turn upon the completion of a registering operation when that operation is suddenly stopped. When the driving means are suddenly stopped, the inertia of the wheel tends to cause the wheel to ratchet forwardly over the ratchet pawls. Also, it is possible, particularly in cases where the reset shaft 26 is looked (as is frequently the case in pick counters) against rotation by other than those authorized to reset the counter, for the operator to fraudulently cause the wheel to jump forwardly in an additive direction by striking a sharp blow on the wing nut by means of which the reset shaft is turned. In the present instance, in order to prevent overthrow and suchfraudulent manipulation, the gear member and the number wheel are looked, through the reset pawl 15 and the plate C, against relative rotation except during a resetting operation. To this end, the edge of the central hole 44 in the plate C is provided with a plurality of notches 50 with teeth 5i therebetween, these notches corresponding in number to the ratchet teeth l3. Cooperating with these notches 50 is a pin 52 carried by and extending laterally from the reset pawl 25 adjacent the nose end thereof. It will be observed from Fig. 4 that when the nose of the ratchet pawl is engaged in the groove 21 of the reset shaft, the pin 52 is inwardly of the inner ends of the teeth 5| so that the counter wheel may be reset to zero while the gear member and the attached plate C remain stationary. Assuming that the wheel has been reset to zero and the reset shaft is locked against rotation, it is not now possible for the operator to fraudulently cause the wheel to jump by striking the wing nut on the reset shaft. Should he attempt to do so, it will be seen that as soon as the wheel starts to jump forward in a counterclockwise 'direction from the position shown in Fig. 4,

the nose of the pawl will be cammed out of the reset groove and the pin 52 will engage in a registering notch 50, thus locking the wheel through the retainer plate C to the gear member which, of course. is held stationary by the now stationary driving means. During a registering operation, the gear member B will be rotated (counterclockwise in Fig. 4) and. due to the ratchet pawls, the wheel will rotate in unison therewith. In the event that the gear member is suddenly stopped and the wheel tends to overthrow, such overthrow is prevented because of the engagement of the pin 52 of the reset pawl in one of the notches 50.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many'apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof. it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended'to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statments of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a resettable counter, a reset shaft having a reset groove; and a counter unit journaled on said shaft, said counter unit comprising a numeral wheel rotatably mounted on the shaft and having a web and a peripheral flange carried by the web and provided with internal ratchet teeth, a spring pressed reset pawl carried by said wheel and arranged to engage said shaft and cooperate therewith during a resetting operation, a gear member having a disk portion located within said peripheral flange and provided on its inner face with chordally,

disposed grooves opening into the periphery of the disk, spring pressed ratchet pawls in said grooves and having their outer ends engageable with said ratchet teeth, and a plate interposed between the opposing faces of said disk and web and associated with said disk so as to rotate therewith, said plate having a central opening provided with spaced notches in its periphery and said reset pawl having a projection extending into the plane of said plate and arranged to engage in said notches to lock said wheel to said gear member when said pawl is not engaged in the reset groove of said shaft.

2. In a resettable counter unit, a numeral wheel adapted to be rotated on a reset shaft having a reset groove,said wheel having a web and a peripheral flange carried by the web and provided with internal ratchet teeth, a spring pressed reset pawl carried by said wheel and arranged to engage in said groove during a resetting operation and to ratchet thereover during a registering operation, a gear member having a central opening whereby said gear member may be journaled with respect to said numeral their outer ends engageable with said ratchet teeth, and a plate interposed between the inner faces of said web and disk and detachably connected to said disk so as to rotate therewith, said plate having a central opening provided in its periphery with spaced notches and teeth therebetween, said reset pawl having a pin ex tending laterally into the opening in said plate and adapted to engage in said notches when said reset pawl is other than in an engaged position in said reset groove, said pin being out of engagement with said teeth of said plate when said pawl is engaged in said reset groove.

3. In a resettable counter unit, a numeral wheel adapted to be rotated on a reset shaft having a reset groove, said wheel having a hub, a web extending from the hub, and a peripheral flange carried by the web and provided with internal ratchet teeth; a spring pressed reset pawl carried by said wheel and arranged to engage in said groove during a resetting opera-' tion and to ratchet thereover during a registering operation; a gear member having a central opening receiving said hub and having a disk portion located within said peripheral flange and provided on its inner face with chordally disposed grooves, said disk having in its inner face holes to opposite sides of its axis; spring pressed ratchet pawls mounted for reciprocation in said grooves and having their outer ends engageable with said ratchet teeth; and a plate interposed between the inner faces of said web and disk and having laterally extending ears frictionally engageable in said holes of said disk, said plate having a central opening receiving said hub and provided in its periphery with spaced notches and teeth therebetween, said ratchet pawl having a pin extendinglaterally into the opening in said plate and adapted to engage in said notches when said reset pawl is other than in an engaged position in said reset groove, said pin being out of engagement with said teeth of said plate when said plate is engaged in said reset groove.

' STERLING GRAYDON, Jn.

HARVEY N. BLISS. 

